Toe lasting machines



Sept. 4, 1962 R. D. MEIER TOE LASTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 17, 1960 INVENTOR.

p 4, 1962 R. D. MEIER 3,051,968

TOE LASTING MACHINES Filed Nov. 1'7, 1.960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllll I' 23 -LEL INVENTOR. 75124414 W 7124'.

United States Patent ()fiice 3,951,968 Patented Sept. 4, 1962 poration of Delaware Filed Nov. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 69,985

9 Claims. (Cl. 12-82) This invention comprises a new and improved toe band mechanism for toe lasting machines constructed and arranged to impart to the upper a smooth and powerful upwiping or drafting action and having also provision for precise and flexible adjustment to accommodate shoes of various contours including those having pointed toes of extreme sharpness.

The successful operation of automatic or semi-automatic toe lasters depends in a large part upon the rapid, accurate and effective upwiping of the upper preparatory to the overwiping action of the wipers and the bedding thereof upon the lasting margin of the upper. The mechanism of the present invention has proved to be highly satisfactory in all these respects. The toe band is contracted or closed under fluid pressure into intimate contact with the entire toe portion of the upper thereby insuring that it gets down to the wood of the last and forms a sharp feather line.

Other features of the invention relate to the train of elements for transmitting power from a fluid pressure cylinder to the toe band and to provision for flexible and comprehensive adjustment of the band to the particular shoe in process. I have discovered that a threaded spindle may be utilized for the double function of transmitting power and adjustment of the toe band by pro viding the spindle with a reinforcing member to relieve it of bending stress. Threaded connection gives the spindle the property of being lengthened or shortened in the transmitting train as required for initially adjusting the band.

It has also been found advantageous to provide a pair of fixed supporting plates upon which the articulated members of the transmitting train may slide in their band-supporting and adjusting capacity. These members are thus firmly supported and guided for movement in their respective paths of action.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the wiper head with the wipers omitted;

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of the toe band;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view showing one end of the toe band;

FIGS. 4, 5-, and 6 are detail views of the transmitting train of connecting elements, and

FIG. 7 is a view in elevation corresponding to FIG. 1.

The wipers have been omitted from the showing of the wiper head since they form no part of the present invention and if shown, would obscure the mechanism to which attention is directed. The wiper line however is indicated in FIG. 7 and from this the location of the wipers in the macine will be readily understood.

The wiper head 10 carries a flexible V-shaped toe band having provision for very precise preliminary adjustment of contour and mechanism for forcibly contracting the band about the toe portion of the shoe presented for the toe lasting operation.

The toe band is operated by a pair of hell crank levers 11 pivotably mounted on the head to rock about vertical pivot studs or bolts 12. Secured to the lower ends of the bolts 12 is a pair of spaced horizontal supporting plates 26 located at a fixed distance below the wiper line. Upon each of the plates 26 is carried a series of articulated connecting members that transmit movement from the levers 11 to the toe band and also provide for the preliminary adjustment of the band.

These connecting members include threaded spindles 13 having a swivel connection 14 with the short arms of the bell crank levers, blocks 15, rockers 17 and elongated presser members 20, all of which are free to rest and slide upon the upper surface of the supporting plates 26 in adjusting or operating the toe band.

Each spindle 13 is threaded into a nut forming an element of its swivel connection 14 with the lever 13 and is provided with a knurled knob 16 by which it may be rotated to vary its effective length in the transmitting train and to determine the initial setting of the toe band.

Each spindle 13 passes freely through a block 15 and is provided with a shoulder and collar holding the block in place against longitudinal movement thereon. A rocker 17 channel shaped in cross section, fits over the block 15 and is pivotally connected thereto by a vertical pivot pin 18. The block 1'5 has an outwardly extending arm into which is threaded an adjusting screw 19 having a knurled head engaging the web of the rocker 17 and so serving to inpait angular adjustment thereto about the axis of the pivot pin 18.

Fitted upon each of the rockers 17 is an elongated presser and carrier member 20 also channel shaped in cross section and secured by the pivot pin 18 in position to embrace the rocker 17. In the web portion of this member is formed a notch 23 as shown in FIG. 6 to receive a stud 24 on one arm of the toe band. It will be seen that the presser members engage the toe band over a substantial area and so controls the contour thereof at its open ends. Angular adjustment of the presser member 20 and of the engaged portion of the toe band is effected by turning the screw 19 and so swinging the rocker 17 and member 20 about the axis of the pivot pin 18.

The power actuated band closing thrust of the machine is transmitted by the bell crank levers 11 through the spindles 13 which are threaded and given the form herein shown so that they may be utilized for effecting the adjustment above referred to in addition to their thrust transmitting function. In order to reinforce and support the spindles each block 15 is provided with a solid arm 25 fitted at its rear end wtihin the channel of the rocker 17 and extending forwardly in close parallelism to the spindle to bear upon the nut 14 of the swivel connection of the spindle to the lever 11.

The toe band itself comprises an outer shell of flexible spring steel 21 provided at each end With a headed stud 24 and at its inner closed end with a slotted clip or bracket 24'. Secured to the inner face of the shell 21 is a ply of fiber or the like which is wedge-shaped in cross section, tapering to a feather edge at the bottom of the band which is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 in an inverted position relative to the position in which it is used for wiping. The band is completed by an inner facing ply 22 of Teflon (poly-tetra-fluoride-ethylene) or other synthetic resin having a low coefficient of friction. This facing ply is of uniform. thickness and may be securely cemented to the intermediate wedge-shaped fiber ply to complete the toe band.

The toe band is suspended in the wiper head between the supporting plates 26 by the studs 24 which slip into the notches 23 of the members 20 and the bracket 24' which is shaped to fit a pin 29 projecting upwardly from a slide 30 which is movable longitudinally in the wiper head. The slide carries a downwardly projecting stud 36 the lower end of which is attached to a tension spring 33 secured at its other end to a pin set in the wiper head and tending at all times to retract the slide 50. The initial position of the slide is adjust-ably determined by a stop face 35 on the slide which engages a cone pointed screw 34 projecting upwardly through a portion of the wiper head and provided with a lock nut. By turning this screw upwardly the slide 30 is correspondingly advanced with the toe band and its nitial position and shape are determined by this adjustment and that provided by the knurled knobs 16 and 19.

The fluid pressure operation of the levers 11 is derived from a cylinder 40 and its cooperating piston shaft 41 connected to float between the long arms of the levers 11 operated through fluid connections 42 indicated in FIG. 7, It will be apparent that when the piston is retracted the levers 11 will be rocked toward each other and motion of the short arms of these levers will be transmitted through the threaded spindles 13 and the rest of the transmitting train to the toe band. The band accordingly will be advanced into engagement with the toe portion of the shoe and wrapped securely about the upper. The shoe and the band are now moved relatively heightwise and the desired upwiping draft imparted to the upper and the shoe is brought to the proper height with respect to the wiper line.

At the conclusion of the wiping step the over-wiped margin of the upper is bedded firmly upon the insole and secured in overlasted position by adhesion or tacks as the case may be. It will be understood that the toe band mechanism of the present invention is incorporated in a lasting machine fully equipped to carry out the complete toe lasting operation.

Having thus disclosed my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A toe lasting machine having a wiper head, a flexible toe band suspended therein below the wiper line, a pair of levers pivotally mounted in the head, an adjustable connecting member between the forward ends of said levers and the opposite sides of the flexible toe band, and a floating cylinder and piston carried by the head and,

connected between the rear ends of said levers for contracting the toe band.

2. A toe lasting machine comprising a wiper head having spaced supporting plates located a fixed distance below the wiper line, elongated channel-shaped presser members mounted to slide one on each supporting plate, a flexible U-shaped toe band suspended between said Supporting plates and engaged along the arms thereof for a substantial distance from each of the two ends of the arms by a diiferent one of said presser members, and power means mounted on the wiper head for varying the spacing between said presser members and, thereby, contracting and expanding the U-shaped toe band.

3. A toe lasting machine as described in claim 2, further characterized in that the presser members are pivotally mounted and means are provided for making 4 a preliminary and individual angular adjustment of each presser member for imparting varying degrees of separation to the sides of the toe band.

4. A toe lasting machine comprising a flexible U-shaped toe band having a band-shaping presser member secured to the outer side of each of its arms, a threaded spindle located on each side of the toe band, a longitudinally adjustable block on each spindle, a rocker pivotally mounted on the block and carrying one of said band-shaping presser members, a reinforcing arm for the spindle projecting from said block, bell-crank levers having short arms connected to said spindles, and a floating cylinder and piston connected between long arms of said levers and Operating to contract or expand the toe band through the connections described.

5. A toe lasting machine having a wiper head, a flexible toe band suspended therein and a fluid pressure cylinder and piston carried thereby, threaded spindles for transmitting power from the cylinder and piston to the toe band for contracting the same, and a reinforcing arm disposed adjacent to the spindle and movable therewith.

6. A toe lasting machine as described in claim 5, further characterized n that the spindle carries a longitudinally movable block from which the reinforcing arm extends in parallel relation to the spindle.

7. A toe lasting machine having a wiper head carrying a flexible toe band and fluid pressure means for contracting the same, together with transmitting elements including ball-crank levers, and a threaded spindle having a swivel connection to each lever and being adjustable in its length as an element of the transmitting train between the levers and the band.

8. A toe lasting machine comprising a wiper head, a flexible toe band suspended therein, power operated bellcrank levers pivotally mounted at opposite sides of the head with inwardly directed short arms, and threaded spindles having swivel connections to said short arms and adjustable connections with opposite sides of the toe band.

9. A toe lasting machine comprising a wiper head carying a slide and a spring initially holding the slide in a retracted predetermined but adjustable position, a U- .shaped toe band secured at its inner end to the slide, a

lever pivotally mounted on either side of the wiper head and connected to the open sides of the toe band, and a fluid pressure cylinder and piston disposed between said levers and operating to swing them in a direction for closing the toe band upon a shoe presented thereto and at the same time advancing the slide and toe hand against spring tension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,257,670 Brock Feb. 26, 1918 2,153,570 Jorgensen Apr. 11, 1939 2,354,686 Jorgensen Aug. 1, 1944 

